ESSCA, a large-scale project combining architectural harmony and the environment
On May 23, 2024, the city of Aix-En-Provence celebrated the groundbreaking of the Ecole
of the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales.
The training and higher education building will have a floor area of 5,589 m² in R+3 and will be delivered and put into operation in June 2025.
Architectural harmony and environment
The project is composed of three building volumes that unfold, opening up views onto the garden and forming a signal element on the scale of the Aix-en-Provence region and the wider metropolitan area. To the north, the facades are treated as signals, windows opening onto the city, giving as much to see as to be seen. You can see them from afar, or discover them up close.
These three “screens”, with their contemporary vocabulary, support an overall fresco evocative of the work of Paul Cézanne and the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, which dominates the distant landscape. The result is a subtle, abstract overall composition of circular silk-screen motifs applied to the glazing. The east and west facades, on the other hand, are in keeping with the history of the site and the identity of Aix-en-Provence: they are more closed, trammelled and give thickness to the volumes. In shades of sand, stone and ochre, they are bright and soft. To the south, the volumes open onto the garden, extended by a system of brises soleil.
The design of the future buildings incorporates structural elements in wood. The floors will be made of a mixed system of wood and concrete, linked by steel connectors. Exposed wooden posts and beams will support the intermediate floors.
The project’s outdoor spaces are divided into two main sections, on either side of the building.
The northern part consists of a large pedestrian and cycle-friendly forecourt, covered in mineral paving and enhanced by incisions of low Mediterranean vegetation. To the south lies the school garden. This space is designed to offer a diversity of uses and modes of occupation.
At the heart of the park, bordered by the main path, a wide, low meadow provides a large meeting space. This meadow is criss-crossed by paths that suggest Japanese steps. Tall trees provide shade and verticality to this open space.
